


how to break through your compulsive heterosexuality

by LocalLibraryGremlin



Series: yeah there gay keep scrolling [3]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, F/F, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, Love Confessions, M/M, dustin and lucas are bi, el is a lesbian, has the structure of season three but without the nonsense and dustin is with the party, max is also a lesbian, mike and will are gay, season 3 is fake, the title might change
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-11-11
Packaged: 2020-11-26 09:36:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20928074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LocalLibraryGremlin/pseuds/LocalLibraryGremlin
Summary: And, for these reasons, he knew that Lucas would never, ever like him back.***It was eye-opening, the things you realize when your best friend is crying.***And Max smelled like strawberry lip balm and had pretty freckles, so maybe the soap operas where wrong.***Or: the summer of love, but I wrote it. Each chapter will focus on a different couple.





	1. you and i, it's wishful thinking (but your happy so i'll stay smiling)

**Author's Note:**

> this has been bouncing around my head for a while, so enjoy.

  1. Dustin was smart. He was perceptive. He was empathetic and sympathetic. He was kind and good with people. He noticed things that others didn't.

He knew that Steve had lingering feelings for both Jonathan and Nancy. He knew why Karen and Ted weren't affectionate with each other. He was almost certain that the Lab was still around, just in a different place, somewhere out of Hawkins. He noticed that Will flinched at flickering lights, tensed when it was cold, and trembled in fear if you touched a certain spot on his hip. He knew that El disliked small spaces, bodies of water, and doctors. He knew that Hopper had a drinking problem when he was on Will's case. He noticed that Lucas had started carrying his wrist-rocket full time. He understood why Max would watch El walk away for just a little longer then necessary. He saw how Mike looked at Will.

And, for these reasons, he knew that Lucas would never, ever like him back.

It was wishful thinking. Lucas loved girls, they were all he seemed to talk about. He liked Max's red hair and how her legs looked in shorts. He liked the way she spoke and how she moved. He loved her soft hands and soft skin and soft everything.

Dustin was short and awkwardly growing into his body. His teeth where still coming in, and his skin was dry. He didn't have the effortless confidence Max did, just sarcasm as defence. He didn't have red hair, and his legs didn't look nearly as nice as Max's.

So, nothing was ever going to happen between him and Lucas, and really, he should stop fantasizing about some magical world where they could be a couple, out and about in Hawkins, when really, that was just...not how it was going to be.

And, he was kind of okay with it. His best friend was happy, and he liked seeing Lucas happy, it made him happy, and thats all he had ever really wanted for Lucas, so he settled for smiling bittersweetly whenever the two would show affection for each other.

Which is why the fact that Dustin just shouted his feeling for Lucas was probably not the best idea.

“Dustin, what are you talking about?” Lucas asked, arms crossed at his chest.

Dustin had invited Lucas over to talk about the Russians, Lucas didn't believe him about the Russians, then Lucas had brought up Suzie, and then Dustin revealed that Suzie wasn't actually his girlfriend (but she was real), and then Lucas gloated about being right, then they started arguing more, and somehow Dustin just blurted out his feelings.

“Don't make me say it again.” Dustin gulped. He felt like someone had set his skin aflame. He honestly just wanted a black hole to appear and suck him into the void, but that was wishful thinking. Hell, he would've settle for the Upsidedown, demogorgons be damned.

“You wanna be with me?”

“Yes, Lucas. Okay? Is that what you wanna hear? I'm queer, Lucas, and I wanna date you and your stupid face, and I wasn't jealous of you at the Snowball, I was jealous of Max, and I know that this is all very wrong and dirty, but it's what I feel.” Dustin sniffled, and wiped his eyes, because at some point, he had started crying. “I love you, asshole.”

“Dustin, I love you too.” Lucas smiled, wider then Dustin had ever seen him. But then the smile disappeared. “And if it wasn't for Max...”

“I get it, Lucas.” Dustin gave him another bittersweet smile. “It's fine.”

“Dustin.” Lucas put a hand on his arm, and held it there when Dustin tried to shake it off. “Dustin, if me and Max ever break up-and I'm lucky enough that you're still single...” Lucas paused, biting his lip. “I'm so yours. Like, man, you have no idea.”

Dustin sighed, shook his head, and gave him a shaky smile. “Cool. Look, I'm gonna go to the mall. I'll be at Scoops if you need me.”

“Dustin...”

“It's fine.”

And with that, Dustin left.

Wishful thinking.

***

So Lucas was feeling pretty shitty when he went to Mike's later. Mike was ranting on the couch, Will was setting up a DnD game, and Lucas was thinking about Dustin and nothing but Dustin. So, he wasn't exactly in the mood to help Mike with his problems.

“I just don't get why she's mad at me!”

“Maybe you where an asshole.” Lucas said, rubbing his forehead. “Maybe she's gay, I dunno.”

That got Mike and Will's attention.

“What? Lucas, she's not gay.”

“How do you know? She could be. Lots of people are gay. She might not know that she has the option to not be with you.”

“Are you saying that I'm forcing El to date me?”

“No, I'm just saying that if she is gay, she wouldn't know.” Lucas turned around, to see Mike's shocked face. “People are gay, Mike. It happens.”

Mike huffed, and crossed his arms. Will decided that game was exceptionally interesting.

“Look, lets just go to the mall, and we'll find a present for El to let her know that you're sorry.”

***

“Maybe I should get her something that says sorry.”

“No, Mike, we're gonna get her a necklace or something.” Lucas was still not in the mood for Mike's problems.

Mike looked frazzled, he was looking around the store and trying to avoid Lucas's eyes. Will, on the other hand, was walking slowly and staring at the floor. Lucas frowned, and nudged his smaller friend.

“Will? You okay?”

“Yeah, I just...” Will gulped and smiled awkwardly. “I know it's stupid, but I really wanted to play DnD.”

Lucas felt his frown grow deeper. He looped his arm around Will's shoulders, and squeezed his friend. “We'll play afterwards, don't worry. If you want, we can even stop by the game store and get some funky dice.”

Will grinned at him, before looking at the ground. “Hey Lucas?”

“Yeah?”

“If one of us was...you know..._gay_...” Will whispered it so quietly that Lucas could barely hear. “Would you care?”

“No. Not at all.”

Will grinned, the apples of his cheeks almost touching his eyes. “Cool.”

Lucas smiled back, and released Will.

They continued walking around the mall, Mike being huffy, Will seeming a little bit more relaxed, and Lucas still thinking about Dustin. He even looked longingly at Scoops Ahoy.

Lucas wished that Dustin had said something sooner, or dropped a hint along the way. He had loved Dustin since they were kids, and he had been _in _love with Dustin since he had decided that Dart was a good demodog. Because as stupid as that fiasco was, he also got to see how much fucking faith and love and affection Dustin had buried inside of him. How was he _not _supposed to fall in love?

He wanted to dance with Dustin at the Snowball. He still felt awful for not checking on his best friend while he was crying. He wanted to yell at the girls who rejected him, because couldn't they see want they were missing?

And it wasn't that Max wasn't fantastic, she was, and she was really pretty and smart and funny...but Max had also broken up with him five times, and Max could be rough in a way he didn't always like, and dammit, he noticed the way that Max looked at girls. And he wasn't even mad about it!

Max was great, but Max wasn't Dustin.

While Lucas was dwelling on his current issue, they had also left the mall. While leaving, they ran into El and Max. El pretty much immediately dumped Mike. And Lucas was dumped by Max.

And Lucas wanted Dustin, but he didn't know if Max was going to change her mind, so he just asked:

“For real?”

“What?” Max turned around, and gave him a 'are you stupid' look.”

“Are we really breaking up? Like, for real this time?”

Max paused. “What do you mean?”

“Max, you are awesome, and I like being your friend. But,” Lucas gulped, and fidgeted with his hands. “I have this...person, and they...Max, they said that they love me.”

Max didn't look upset, just kind of surprised. “Oh.”

“And I also love this person. So, if we are breaking up, it has to be for real.”

“Then I guess we're breaking up.” Max smiled at him. He smiled back.

“Cool. Friends?”

“Friends.” Max and him did an awkward little handshake, and then Max got on the bus with El.

Lucas turned on his heel, and went right back into the mall.

“Dude, where are you going?!” Mike called.

“Someone's waiting for me!” Lucas called back.

“Waiting for you?!”

Lucas ignored him, and bolted back into Starcourt. He ran through the mall, narrowly avoiding a collision with a lady who was carrying several shopping bags, and ran over to Scoops Ahoy. He ran to the restaurant, and rang the bell about six times. A girl with short, dirty blond came over to the window.

“We're closed.”

“Is Dustin here?”

“Who?”

“Dustin Henderson. Short, curly hair, missing teeth.”

“Oh yeah, Steve's strange child.” The girl turned around. “Dustin! Someone's here for you!”

Dustin then walked over and took the girls place. He frowned slightly when he saw Lucas.

“Lucas, what-”

“Guess who broke up with Max and would like to have a shot with you if you wouldn't mind and might still want to be with me?” Lucas said, voice softening as he gave Dustin the offer, and doing goofy jazz hands.

Dustin looked at him with wide eyes and a slightly dropped jaw, before smiling widely. “Are you serious?”

“Super serious. I also wanna help with the Russian thing.” Lucas smiled, then looked around briefly for prying eyes, before gently taking one of Dustin's hands. “So?”

“Yes! Yes, yes, of course, that sounds great!” Dustin giggled, and Lucas grinned as he watched his cheeks turn red.

In less then five minutes, he was holed up with Dustin, Steve 'The Hair' Harrington, and the girl whose name was actually Robin, trying to decode a Russian transmission. Dustin had been stroking his foot against Lucas's left leg, and Lucas was a lot more happy about it then he had ever thought he would be.


	2. i laughed when someone suggested being with you (but now the jokes worn off and my bones ache)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> take a shot every time i use italics

  1. Mike Wheeler was having a weird fucking afternoon.

First of all, his relationship with his girlfriend was done, apparently. Second of all, Lucas had gone to Scoops Ahoy, and, after a very long discussion, in which Mike yelled at Lucas through the window at the ice cream place while Will awkwardly listened, he was staying there to 'make up for lost time'. Also, he seemed really happy after being dumped, which was very strange. So, it was just him and Will back at the house. Will was meticulously setting up a game of DnD, with a ruler and everything, and Mike was laying on the couch, eating cheese puffs.

Will was wearing _stupid_ shorts, that showed off his legs, like that was okay. He was smiling, cheek to cheek, the kind that made him look like his whole being was smiling with him. It made Mike's heart hurt in a way he didn't like. Mike was sure that if he had gotten closer, his eyes would be pretty as ever, brown eyes that glowed gold in the sunlight. Will's hair looked soft and his skin looked soft and Mike's heart tightened in his chest, and he wanted to hate him. He wanted to hate Will for everything that he was, everything that he stood for, he wanted to hate that Will made him want to stay in the basement, stay with him, to play games with him forever and ever, instead of finding _girlfriends _like they were supposed to.

Will was rambling on about the great game that he had planned, about how it would 'totally make him feel better' and 'will make you forget about stupid girls', and Mike was sick of it. He was sick of all of it.

“And there's zombies attacking this village, but their _powerful_ zombies, like in Evil Dead, and we have to defeat them in order to save the village from being _eaten alive, _but we only have-”

“Will shut up!” Mike sat up, cheese puffs flying in the air. “I don't care about your game, okay? In case you haven't noticed, my _girlfriend, _the _love of my life, most important person to me,_ just dumped me. I'm not in the mood to pretend to be a wizard and defeat _spooooky zombies_, to save _helpless villagers!_” Mike waved his hands in the air, mockingly pretending to be a zombie.

Will turned red, and he looked down. “I just wanted you to feel better...”

“Well, it's not gonna help.” Mike huffed, collapsing back into the couch.

Will nodded, slowly starting to put the game away. He folded it carefully into a square, and stuck it in his binder. He took all of the figurines and gently placed them in his pencil case. He put in all into his backup, and looked at Mike again before zipping it up.

“Do you wanna watch a movie instead?” Will asked shyly, before his eyes lit up. “Ghostbusters! We could watch Ghost-”

“Will that's for kids! Do you honestly want to watch a movie about a movie about a bunch of weirdos who fight ghosts?”

“B-But it's your favourite-”

“It's childish and stupid, Will. I don't know if you realize this, but we're not kids anymore. We should be partying and getting girlfriends, not playing games and watching kids movies. God, this is why everyone thinks you're queer-” And the world froze. Time froze. Everything fucking stopped, and Mike stood there, suspended in a sentence that would sound bad no matter how he ended it.

Mike watched in slow-motion, ten frames per second, as Will's already sad face turned into jaw-dropped shock, then fear, then just more heavy sadness. He watched as Will's eyes flooded with tears, as his lower lip quivered, as his cheeks turned bright red. Red, not pretty pink blushing or angry pissed-off crimson, just red from the stress of trying not to let tears roll down his face. Will's shoulders started to tremble as he wrapped his arms around himself, starting to look everywhere but Mike.

“I-Is that really what you think of me?” Will asked, voice barely above a whisper, looking to the side.

“No.” Mike said, almost yelling the word. “Will, I promise, I was just mad, and I say stupid stuff when I'm mad, you know that.” He gulped, a lump heavy in his throat, all anger at his friend gone, just wanting to get that look off his face. “Com'on, let's watch the movie, or we can play the game, whatever you want.”

“What if I am?” Will asked, looking Mike right in the eye. “What if I am gay, or queer?”

It is eye-opening, the things you realize when your best friend is crying.

Mike had nothing to say, just stared at Will, trying to get the words out of his throat.

_It wouldn't matter, not even a little. We'd play DnD like old times, watch movies like old times, be in AV Club like old times. I'll still love you, I've always loved you, I just realized it now but it was always their, in the back of my mind. _

“How easy was it to forget me when El was here?”

_We didn't forget you, not for a second. I slept with your drawings, I don't think I ever told you that. I called you every night on the walkie-talkie. I shoved Troy for you. Lucas went looking for you, so did Dustin, we all did. I thought you where dead and the entire world felt like it tilted, it was like being in a dream because I didn't want to except it. I was gonna burn down the town for you._

Will closed his eyes, and let the tears roll down his face, taking a step forward. “Crazy together. You promised.” Will sobbed, loudly, reaching a hand up to muffle the noise.

_That still stands. That's not going away, I promise. I was stupid, but I'm not anymore, and I'm so sorry, and the thought of loving you scared me, and I thought that being with El would make it go away, but I was wrong. It was all wrong._

The two boys just looked at each other, almost nose-to-nose, Will crying, shoulder shaking and chest heaving with the force. He turned around to leave, starting to go up the stairs, bringing a hand up to wipe his tears. Before he could, Mike wrapped both hands around his waist, and pulled Will flush up against him.

“Mike-” Will gasped, back pressed into Mike's chest, tears running down his face as he squirmed in his grip.

Mike wrapped his arms fully around him, one arm tightly around his waist, his hands tracing circles into his hip, while the other reached up to feel the heat of Will's red cheeks, gently wiping the tears there, before settling around his chest. Mike pressed his cheek to Will's, and tucked his head on Will's shoulder.

“I'm sorry,” He started slowly. “I liked your game, and I still like Ghostbusters, and I don't think your childish.”Mike gulped, holding Will a little tighter. “It wouldn't matter if you were gay, your still you. And I didn't forget you, not even for a second. I promise. And crazy together is a promise, and it is never going to break.” He nuzzled Will's cheek, and the lump in his throat regrew as the smaller boy sniffled.

“T-Then why d-did you-”

“I was scared. I was really, really scared, because I have these feelings, feelings for you, that I don't have with El. And whenever you get excited about something, or when you smile, or when the light hits your eyes, my entire chest hurts because I wanna be near you, but I can't if I'm with El.” He pressed a kiss to Will's cheek, tasting salt and not caring. “I could make you my entire world, Will. It would be so easy.”

He felt Will start to tremble again, Will's hands shakily trying to wrap around his arms. Mike gently grabbed them, intertwining their fingers and hooking their arms back around Will's waist.

Will sniffled again, a fresh set of tears rolling down his face as he leaned back into Mike. He slightly turned his head to look at Mike, who was giving him a sad smile, and eyes that where brimming with tears and a questions of forgiveness.

“A-Are you saying t-that you wanna b-be with me?”

Mike nodded, starting to sway them gently. “I'm so sorry, Will. I know that I was awful, and I never should've yelled, or call you queer, but I didn't mean it, okay? Sweetheart, I promise I didn't mean it.”

“I've loved you since we were kids.” Will said, without stuttering this time. “When I was in the Upsidedown, I just wanted to see you. God, I love you.”

“I love you too. I love you so much.”

Mike gently turned Will around, staring at him. Will was blushing, salty tears still rolling down his cheeks, lips wavering in an uncertain smile, chest heaving. His eyelashes where clumped together, and Mike ran his thumb underneath them, grinning when Will melted into the touch. He raised his other hand up to cup Will's and jawline, and Will puffed out a breath before leaning in slightly.

Mike kissed him, his knees feeling like jelly as he pulled one of his hands away from Will's face to pull him in gently by the waist. Will wrapped his arms around Mike's neck and stood up on his toes and nearly fell into Mike, giggling as Mike's nose bumped into his cheek and his fingers pulled on his tucked-in shirt. Mike grinned against Will's lips and kissed him again, enjoying the sound that their lips made coming together.

They separated after a minute, breathing heavily, and Will fisted a handful of Mike's shirt and buried his face in his neck, and Mike kissed right behind his ear and felt alive.


	3. you can rose tint my world (but it'll still wear off)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is 99% a study of lesbian el and im not sorry.
> 
> enjoy!

  1. El wasn't stupid.

She knew this, and frankly, anyone who didn't know was a mouthbreather. Sure, she wasn't the best at math (Hopper had been trying to teach her), but she was smart. She knew how to hitchhike, she could fight anyone (with or without powers), and she knew that lights flickering meant that the Upsidedown might be trying to give them trouble.

So after watching a variety of movies and soap operas-mostly soap operas (all very age appropriate, Hopper wasn't letting anything 'raunchy' be seen, whatever that meant), El thought that she had a pretty good understanding of love. Romantic love, that is.

She already knew what platonic love was-Dustin had explained it to her as “friend love”. And she knew who she loved platonically, and why. She loved Dustin and Lucas because they made her smile, they had protected her before, and they always explained stuff to her patiently, even if she didn't understand on the first try. She loved Joyce because Joyce had let her know that she was brave and that she wouldn't have to stay in the void place if she didn't want to. She loved Hopper because he gave her waffles every day, let her watch TV if she had a nightmare, and always reminded her that she had was never going to go back to the lab.

She didn't love Will yet-he was shy around her, and she was shy around him, and that doesn't tend to lead to bonding-but she was sure that she would soon. And she still wasn't really sure where her and Max stood.

But, her and Mike were _definitely _in romantic love. They did everything that the couples on screen did-they kissed, a lot, very wet kissing that El was pretty sure that she was supposed to like. They cuddled, even though Mike remained bizarrely stiff during what El was almost certain was supposed to be a relaxed activity. They sneaked away from their friends to be together (which honestly made El kinda sad-she liked her friends, and she didn't understand why they couldn't do couple stuff with them around). El even clung to his arm like couples in her movies did. So clearly, did all had to mean love.

It made sense.

***

By the time that her sleepover with Max came around, El wasn't so sure anymore.

Max was actually incredibly sweet. Max helped her find clothes that she liked. Max bought her ice cream and played games with her. Max was strong and brave and fiery when needed, gentle when needed. She liked being around Max.

Max thought that her powers where super cool, and Max wanted to spy on the boys, and El was filled with the urge to look “cool” for Max. She wanted Max to think that she was the coolest girl to ever walked the Earth.

So, she spied on the boys. It was...strange.

First, she spied on Lucas. Max didn't seem sad about her breakup with Lucas. According to Max, Lucas liked someone else. Max wanted to see if she was happy.

_(Max cared that her ex was happy and the people on TV never cared about their ex's Max must have so much love it's probably overflowing oh god that's wonderful)_

_(She wasn't sad about breaking up with Mike not even a little and the people on TV where always sad when they break up so why isn't she sad shouldn't she be sad)_

“He seemed really excited about this person. I just want to make sure that whoever it is, that they love him, you know? He deserves that.” Max said, sounding confident, and smiling so widely that it had to be real.

“Yeah.” El said, softly, staring at Max with wide eyes as the corner of her mouth lifted.

When she did enter the void, she was in what looked like Dustin's room. Him and Lucas where sitting on Dustin's bed, looking at some kind of map.

“See, the Russians are probably underground somewhere,” Dustin said, pointing to a spot on the map. “they probably have some sort of secret base, under the mall.”

“Do you think that's why it was built?” Lucas asked, resting his chin on Dustin's shoulder. El noticed that Dustin had his ankle wrapped around the taller boy's.

“He's with Dustin.” She told Max. “They're sitting really close.”

“How close?” Max asked. El pressed her thumb and forefinger together.

Dustin started talking again. “Probably. It's gotta be deep underground, Luke. They couldn't hide anything close to the surface, people would get suspicious.”

“That makes sense.” Lucas had his arm wrapped around Dustin's waist, and was tracing circles on it, making Dustin smile. “You're so smart.”

And El watched as Lucas smiled at Dustin, all gentle and open, and she suddenly felt like she was invading something. Like this wasn't something she was supposed to see. Lucas looked at Dustin like Dustin was the sun, or the stars, or something else equally pretty and space-themed.

El watched as Dustin kissed Lucas, gently placing his hand on the other boys cheek. She watched as Lucas kissed him back, like they'd been doing this all their lives.

Dustin pulled away first, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. “That was okay, right? I know it probably feels weird, because-”

“Dustin.” Lucas placed his hand over Dustin's. “It was perfect.”

El took her blindfold off, and looked at Max. “They kissed. Dustin and Lucas.”

Max blinked. “Oh. That...kind of makes sense, actually.”

“Is it okay?”

“Yeah.” Max nodded. “I mean, if they're happy.”

“But there boys.” El had never seen two boys kiss on TV.

Mx shrugged. “It's not that big of a deal. I mean...it is here, and you probably shouldn't be telling other people about it, but that's only because people are stupid.” Max smiled and bounced slightly. “Com'on, lets do Mike next. He's probably all like, 'oh why won't she take me back'.”

Max laughed, and El laughed back, and wondered how she could ever hate this girl.

El put the blindfold back on, and sunk into the void. She was suddenly in Mike's basement. Mike and Will where sitting on the couch. El stared at them.

She knew that this was intimate. Will was sitting sideways on Mike's lap, his fingers gently kneading Mike's shoulders. Mike was rubbing his nose into Will's cheek, his hands around Will's waist, fingers delicately brushing below the hem of Will's shirt. She watched as Will giggled and Mike shifted one of his hands to Will's thigh, rubbing small circles into the fabric of Will's shorts.

“I like your legs.” Mike mumbled into Will's cheek, kissing it. “And your cheeks. And your eyes.”

“I like your hair.” Will whispered, pecking Mike's nose. “And your nose. I like _you,_ Mike.”

“I like you too.”

This was followed by a series of gentle kisses, during which both boys cheeks turned dark shades of pink. When they did separate, El watched at Will seemingly sunk into Mike, and as Mike grabbed Will's hands and intertwined their fingers.

This was really intimate.

El took her blindfold off, and looked at Max. She looked at the freckles on Max's face, the way that her hair curled at the bottom, how soft her lips looked, how pink they were. She noticed, not for the first time, that Max smelled really nice-like strawberry candy and lemon. She wondered what it would be like to be intimate with Max.

She remembered holding Max's hand earlier, and how her hand tingled for hours afterward, but not a bad tingle, a good tingle that made her stomach warm. She wondered if the same thing would happen if she kissed Max.

“El? Are you okay?” Max asked, her brow quirked up.

El nodded. “Will and Mike where kissing.”

“Oh.” Max's jaw dropped. “I'm sorry.”

El shrugged. “I don't feel sad. Is that bad?”

“No...I guess not. Besides, your pretty. You'll have tons of guys going after you when you start school. You'll have to fight them off with a bat.” Max said, smiling. El felt something tug in her chest, but she didn't mind.

“Yeah.”

***

The rest of the month was absolutely wild.

First of all, the morning after that sleepover, the boys had called them in an absolute panic because, not only was the Mindflayer back, but apparently evil Russians where just going ham underneath the Starcourt mall doing wacky Evil Russian stuff. The pieces kind of fell into piece after that: the Russians had opened up the Gate but only because they where being blackmailed by the Lab, Billy was possessed, Alexei (a Russian scientist who Hopper and Joyce had kidnapped) got shot but managed to get sent to the hospital after several people showed concern about the bleeding man at the carnival, the Mindflayer, using the power of chemicals and rats managed to get a flesh form and utterly destroyed the cabin, so the Hopper's where shacking up with the Byers (and yes, both El and Will where confused and concerned about the level of sure googly eyes both there respective parents made at each other), and all this culminated in a Final-Boss level battle at the Starcourt mall, featuring fireworks and leaving the place a bloody mess.

Now, all this meant that El had been in close proximity to Max for a while, and she was seriously starting to doubt how love, and all of its glorious components worked. Because for one thing, the urge to kiss Max wasn't going away. It fact, it had only gotten stronger, and El was starting to get concerned that maybe she had caught some kind of illness. Because, when her and Mike where in love, she didn't want to kiss him nearly this much. With Max, she was balling her fists to resist holding her hand, and clenching her jaw so kissing would be impossible.

She was watching a movie with Max, and she couldn't remember the title, but it was some sort of _romantic comedy _(Will had told her about those), and she was so close that she could react out and hold Max's hand.

She had _never _seen two girls in a relationship on TV. As far as she was aware, it didn't happen. But she wanted to kiss and touch Max, so that had to mean something, right? She turned to Max, and looked at her, and stared at her braids, looked at the freckles on her skin, and El felt her heart do that weird tug thing.

“Hey, Max?” El said, turned away from the movie and towards Max.

“Mmm?” Max looked at El, and must have seen the concern on her face, because she paused the movie and turned towards her. “Yeah? What's up?”

Soap operas didn't feature two girls in love. But Max wasn't just another girl to El. And Max smelled like strawberry lip balm and had pretty freckles, so maybe the soap operas where wrong.

“Can girls date?” El asked, brushing her fingertips against Max's hand.

Max turned pink, but nodded shyly. “I-I think that they could. If they liked each other...a lot.” Max leaned in a little bit, and El felt like she'd swallowed a match. No, a bonfire.

“Really?”

“Yeah, really.” Max smiled. “Got anyone in mind?”

El nodded, and leaned in closer to Max. She watched, entranced, as Max also leaned in closer.

El was the one who took the leap and pressed her lips to Max's. She felt Max cup her cheek, and she raised her hand to stroke one of Max's braids. Max kissed less wetly then Mike did, and her lips where softer. They kissed, slowly, noses bumping together, and they giggled when it happened. El was right, Max's hair was really soft.

The soap opera's where definitely wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we are finished! thank you for reading and i hope that you all enjoyed!


End file.
